PHILADELPHIA – A Chester County couple allege that the wife-plaintiff was injured while aboard the Spirit of Philadelphia yacht, and have now brought a lawsuit against the ship’s operators for negligence-related damages.
Melinda LeSage and Herbert J. LeSage, Jr. of Lincoln University initially filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on May 10 versus City Cruises Philadelphia, Spirit of Philadelphia and Entertainment Cruises, Inc., all of Philadelphia.
“On or about Aug. 10, 2019, at approximately 3:45 p.m., plaintiff Melinda LeSage was a business invitee on the Spirit of Philadelphia Yacht and, while exercising due care and caution for her own safety, was caused to trip, stumble and fall by reason of the presence of a three-inch raised threshold above a landing, thereby causing a dangerous, defective and hazardous condition,” the suit says.
“The dangerous condition of the raised threshold created a reasonably foreseeable risk that guests such as plaintiff would trip, stumble and fall and incur injury. As a result of the aforesaid, plaintiff sustained serious, painful, and permanent injuries, as more particularly described herein.”
The suit says that the defendants committed “failure to use ordinary care and diligence to warn patrons of the raised threshold, and to keep the doorway in a condition reasonably safe for its intended uses.”
“By failing to warn or caution of the raised threshold on the Spirit of Philadelphia on Aug. 10, 2019, defendants created a dangerous and/or hazardous condition, of which defendants were aware, should have been aware, or could have been aware through the exercise of ordinary care, and breached their duty to public invitees and plaintiff herein,” the suit states.
“Plaintiff's fall and resultant injuries were caused by the aforesaid acts of negligence on the part of defendants or their agents, servants and/or employees, who failed to utilize reasonable care to warn of said reasonably foreseeable hazard or dangerous condition. As a result of the aforesaid, plaintiff sustained injuries to her neck, back, legs and head, including but not limited to: A fracture to her right distal femur requiring surgical repair and multilevel degenerative thoracic and lumbar sprain spondylosis.”
On June 30, the defendants filed to remove the case to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, on the bases of diversity jurisdiction between the parties and the amount of damages at issue.
“Defendant City Cruises Philadelphia is a brand name of Hornblower Cruises and Events, LLC, which replaced Spirit Cruises, LLC via a name change in 2020. Defendant Entertainment Cruises, Inc. is a predecessor corporation of Hornblower Cruises and Events, Inc., which replaced Entertainment Cruises, Inc. via a name change in 2020. Their principal place of business is located at 455 North Cityfront Drive, Suite 2600, Chicago, IL 60611,” according to the removal notice.
“Hornblower Cruises and Events, LLC and Hornblower Cruises and Events, Inc., are organized under Hornblower Group, Inc., which is a domestic corporation organized pursuant to the laws of the state of California. Its principal place of business is Pier 3, The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 9411. None of the removing defendants is incorporated or otherwise organized pursuant to the laws of Pennsylvania. Moreover, their principal places of business are not, and never were located in Pennsylvania. Based upon the allegations of plaintiffs’ complaint, the amount in controversy in this action is in excess of $75,000, exclusive of costs and interest, as plaintiff has alleged damages in excess of $50,000 in the complaint.”
For counts of negligence and loss of consortium, the plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages in excess of the jurisdictional limits, together with interest and costs.
The plaintiffs are represented by Joseph A. Cullen Jr. of Stark & Stark, in Yardley.
The defendants are represented by Timothy D. Rau of Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, in Philadelphia.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:22-cv-02556
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 220501279
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com